What is ‘issue management’? If you think you know what it is, just forget it all! Course books on this subject are not bad but they have very little to do with real life situations. They teach you about all sorts of integrated methods of PR marketing, message oriented communication at every level of the organisation, proactivity and suchlike. In fact, it is much simpler than that. The idea is to increase the news value of subjects and issues that are suitable for conveying your message. And to defuse the news value of subjects and issues that have a negative effect on your image. The former is called issue management. The latter is crisis communication. The questions are: How to get into the news. And how to get out of it. The rest is bulls***.

News value is a complex phenomenon but only teachers at media schools and members of boards that award freedom of press prizes believe that it is an objective category. It is NOT! Some of the categories enumerated in course books for students of journalism (such as geographic distance, how many people are affected, exclusivity, emotional effect etc.) can be influenced, but, more importantly, some factors determining news value are not even listed in these books. And these are factors that the one who wants to deliver the message – in other words, we – can influence to a great extent.

If you catch a 120 kilogram fish from the lake you can make the evening news. However, if you eat it by the time the news crew gets there, you will definitely be left out of the programme. Why? Because you have eaten up the evidence, the illustration for the news! Anglers with their moustache covered with grease and their stomach filled with the fish cannot be the illustration for the coverage...

Likewise, you can shout at the top of your lungs that you will create 120 new jobs, and you will have a good chance to make the regional dailies – the importance of which is not to be underestimated. However, if you want to be in the national newspapers, you need to invite some big shot, let’s say, the labour minister to speak for you.

We at ISSUES see not only the face value of the news but also the hidden potential in it. We know what tools can be used to influence the factors that increase or, if need be, decrease the value of the news about our clients. If you don’t believe this click hereto see how we reached 5 million people (while Hungary has a population of 10 million) with the news that a big insurance company renovated some playgrounds in a couple of kindergartens.

It is not by accident that issue management appears in the name of ISSUES Management Consulting Ltd.